Playing to ‘Standard’ Remains Indiana University Football’s Practice Key Practice four took place inside Mellencamp Pavilion, where the action was hot and promising. Hoosiers deliver rigorous thumps but not punishing blows. There is no tackling or smashing guys to the ground. Good form and technique are demanded and — mostly — produced, with vigilant coaching offered when something goes awry. During an 11-on-11 session, defensive lineman Mario Landino knocks down a pass. Receiver Lebron Bond dives for a catch. Running back Khobie Martin showcases more impressive explosiveness. Watching it all is head coach Curt Cignetti, who has his team building for the Sept. 5 season opener against North Texas and beyond. “The focus is getting 11 guys to do their job and playing to the standard so it looks more game-like,” he says from the Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium’s Don Croftcheck Team Room. “Every day we get a little better in that regard. It’s about developing players, depth and finding out about your team and who can do what. “It’s far from perfect. There’s a lot of install going on and situations change daily.”
One thing that doesn’t change is playing to the standard that has allowed IU to go 27-2 in Cignetti’s two Hoosier seasons, including the national championship. “We’re trying to get them to play to the standard more than anything else,” he says. “There’s a certain way we do things. We’re process driven in how we play the game.” As far as providing a motivational edge, Cignetti adds that that will happen “as we get closer to the season. Right now, it’s getting them to play up to the standard.” While Josh Hoover is locked into the starting quarterback position, Cignetti seeks to develop depth behind him. Quarterback Grant Wilson started with the No. 2 offense for the first three days of practice. Tyler Cherry, a third-year quarterback out of nearby Center Grove High School who missed all of last season with a knee injury, took charge of the second offense for Practice 4. “He’s really smart,” Cignetti says of Cherry. “He gets the ball out of his hand. He’s developing. He just has to get better every day and take advantage of his opportunities.”
Tight end remains the lone area of offensive inexperience. Miami (Fla.) transfer Brock Schott, a second-year player from Leo High School outside of Fort Wayne, along with first-year player Trevor Gibbs and second-year players Andrew Barker and Blake Thiry are the top candidates. Schott caught two passes for 24 yards in two games at Miami before transferring. “Barker and Thiry have been out there; they were workhorses in the spring,” Cignetti says. “Schott has had some good (camp) moments, as has Gibbs from a blocking and receiving standpoint. “We’re just trying to get them better. We’re going to be counting on Barker, Schott and Gibbs, for sure, and then we’ll figure out that fourth one.”
Defensive linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, whose seasons were cut short last year with injuries, continue to work out, but don’t participate in 11-on-11 drills, although that is coming, Cignetti says. “I think Daley will be ready to take some 11-on-11 reps next week with Wyatt a little bit behind him,” Cignetti says. “We’re not rushing either. “Both are real good players. Wyatt was playing really good football when he got hurt, and Daley had emerged, big time. So, it gives those guys an opportunity to finish what they started. They didn’t get that opportunity last year because of injury. It makes us a better team.”
Last season, in seven games, the 6-foot-2, 257-pound Wyatt had 27 tackles, eight for loss, with 2.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup. In 13 games, the 6-foot-1, 273-pound Daley had 38 tackles, 19 for loss with 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. They will create intriguing matchup options for defensive coordinator Bryant Haines to exploit. Wyatt, for instance, has the ability to play defensive end or linebacker. “I let Bryant handle the defense,” Cignetti says. “I have a pretty good idea of what he’s thinking of. Wyatt has some linebacker versatility in our trio package which we play against 12 personnel (one running back and two right ends).”
Former Indiana Hoosier Men’s Swimmer Van Mathias brings a bonkers swimming comeback story to the Pan Pacific Championships In 2018, Van Mathias, a 17-year-old from Beaverton, Oregon, swam for the U.S. junior national team for the first and what would be only time at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Fiji. Last Wednesday Mathias made his U.S. senior national team debut at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California. In the eight years in between, Mathias swam five seasons for Indiana University, retired from competition, became director of operations for the Hoosiers swim and dive program, unretired after two years and transformed from a butterflier and IMer to become the fastest sprint breaststroker in American history.
At these Pan Pacs, Mathias will race for the first time donning a national team swim cap with both an American flag and his last name emblazoned on the side. He also wore an American flag cap at the 2018 Junior Pan Pacs, but without his last name on it. The names are reserved for senior national teamers. Van Mathias has arrived. “You grow up watching swimming, watching all the biggest stars in the sport, and they always have their last name on the cap, especially at the biggest meets, the Olympics, things like that,” he said. “Hopefully it’s going to feel really good on my head.”
Mathias was 41st and 48th in two butterfly events at the Tokyo Olympic Trials and had a best individual NCAA Championships finish of 25th going into his final season in Bloomington in 2022-23. He converted to the breaststroke before the 2023 Big Ten Championships. Though it clicked — he finished second in the 100-yard breast at NCAAs — he was ready to hang up the cap and goggles. “For now, calling it done, end with a bang,” he told SwimSwam after the 2023 NCAAs, “but, who knows, you might see me later on.”
A year later, Mathias, who had moved back to Oregon and coached a high school team, got a call from his old head coach at Indiana, Ray Looze. Looze suggested Mathias apply for the program’s director of operations vacancy. Mathias interviewed and got it, so he moved back to Bloomington for the 2024-25 season. He had done little swimming in the previous 18 months. In fact, he barely did any cardio at all. Instead, he undertook a weightlifting program with the help of his mom, Nancy, and an uncle, both former competitive bodybuilders. Mathias went from 200 pounds when he left IU as a swimmer to 235 when he returned as an employee. Mathias’ office being about 20 feet from the pool deck, he got curious and splashed around every once in a while. John Long, Jr. and Cory Chitwood, associate head coaches who both swam at the 2012 Olympic Trials, joined him for pool workouts. “Van would intermittently do something fast, and we’d be like, ‘Hmm, that’s pretty good. You’re really throwing down a fast time for not really training,’” Long said.
Then came the 2025 USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis. Mathias trekked up Interstate 69 in his director of ops role to support the IU swimmers. Mathias, Looze and Long conversed about the state of U.S. men’s breaststroke as they watched the finals. No American cracked the top 10 in the world in the 50m breast, an event that was added to the 2028 Olympic program two months earlier. “We’re like, ‘Van, I think with the 50s of strokes being added to the Olympics, we could experiment a little bit, do some different training, and I think your 50m breaststroke could be really, really good,’” Long recalled. “Because we saw what some of the other Americans were doing, it just kind of felt like there was an opening for him.”
Two and a half weeks later, Mathias registered his first official swim times in nearly two and a half years. Within two months, he swam the fastest 50m breast by an American for the year (14th-fastest man in the world) and qualified to make his senior international debut at these Pan Pacs. He has been swifter in 2026, breaking American records in the 50m breast (in April and again in June) and in the 100m breast (in June). How did this happen? There could be several contributing factors.
Mathias, though he came up as a butterflier and IMer, may have been a breaststroke star in waiting all along given his NCAA runner-up finish in 2023. Maybe the weightlifting during his retirement gave him an optimal base to work off. Maybe it’s perspective, a little older, a little wiser. “I tell myself that work is hard, swimming is easy,” he said. “I love being a part of something bigger than myself and being able to be there and be a reliable piece for others. This (director of ops) job takes up a big chunk of that. Swimming is kind of my little personal thing that I get for me. I expend a lot of energy being there for others, and swimming is where I can just do it for me.” Maybe it’s the training. Mathias adopted the less-is-more, high-intensity mentality of Australian Cam McEvoy, who broke the 50m freestyle world record in March at age 31.
A typical sprinter swims between 2,000 to 5,000 yards per practice, Long said. Mathias ranges from about 1,000 yards to 1,500 yards. Part of the reason for that is necessity. Sometimes he only has time to squeeze in a 45-minute workout due to his job. Mathias keeps his phone nearby just in case. “There’s been times where I’ve gotten calls and whatnot that have had to pull me out of the water,” he said. “There’s also been times where I’ve been at my desk in my Speedo, still dripping wet, trying to do something on my computer.” A director of operations for a swim team can be in charge of just about everything — setting up travel to meets, ensuring everyone is fed, coordinating recruit visits, stocking up team gear.
This past March 15, Mathias was woken up at 4 a.m. by a phone call that the team’s flight plans for later that day for the NCAA Women’s Championships in Atlanta were canceled due to heavy lightning. So Mathias worked the phones all morning. He was able to rebook half the team to fly out of Louisville and the other half, plus support staff, on an eight-hour bus from Bloomington. Mathias rode the bus. “I felt like I lived a lifetime in that day,” he said.
This week, Mathias is entered in the 50m fly (Wednesday), 100m breast (Thursday), 50m breast (Friday) and 50m freestyle (Saturday). The most famous mustachioed Hoosier swimmer since Mark Spitz doesn’t dwell on medal goals but would like to record more personal-best times. Mathias, after reflecting on the 2018 Junior Pan Pacs experience, is asked if the Olympics feel within reach. “I got a lot of people telling me that. I’m trying to ignore it,” he said. “Having a job and all these other things going on in my life, it’s easy to get wrapped up in that stuff. But I think if I can kind of close my world and my perception and just kind of take it day by day, eventually we’ll get there.”
Indiana University Volleyball Coach Steve Aird shares hilarious story of first time he met Curt Cignetti Steve Aird’s turnaround of the IU volleyball program is one of the more underreported stories in IU Athletics over the last few years. Part of the reason? Another Bloomington turnaround story has captivated the nation. “Certainly, I’ve joked earlier that it’s taken me a little bit longer than Coach Cignetti to get good fast,” Aird said last week at Big Ten volleyball media day. “But it’s been a labor of love. We’ve been working really hard over the last few years to develop elite-level athletes.”
The volleyball story needs to be told in greater detail. Despite being picked 11th in the preseason conference poll, Aird’s squad rolled to a 25-win campaign in 2025 while breaking a program record for overall wins (25) and Big Ten wins (14). They reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010. With just over a week until the start of the 2026 season, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) unveiled its preseason top-25 rankings. Aird’s Hoosiers were picked 16th by the voting coaches, the first time the program has opened the season in the national polls. The volleyball turnaround is one of many in the IU Athletics space over the last decade. Women’s basketball, softball, women’s soccer and wrestling are some of the other programs that have achieved recent success that has gone well beyond historic norms.
But there’s nothing quite like the IU football turnaround, not just in Bloomington, but anywhere in the history of sports. It’s a story made for a movie, and Aird’s first time meeting Cignetti seems like it should have a place in the script. It’s a great insight into the mind of the IU football coach. “First time I met Cig, one of my favorite guys, I learned a lot from him, have a ton of respect for him,” Aird said at the volleyball media day. “It’s 10:00 in the morning, it’s his third day at work, and I brought a bottle of bourbon as a gift and slid it across the table and said ‘Are we doing this now or are we doing this later.’”
As Aird says, this was Cignetti’s third day on the job, when he was knee-deep in attempting to rebuild the roster ahead of the 2024 season. With the benefit of hindsight, we now know the answer is clear. Cignetti didn’t have time for idle chit chat (does he ever?), not to mention, he’s a beer drinker. “He stares at it for about 10 seconds. Slides it back, says, ‘I don’t drink bourbon.’ He pulls out a legal notepad, and he starts taking notes on me: ‘You married? Yeah. Children? Yeah.’ He’s building a dossier on me three days into the job. “Five minutes into it, he slides it into a drawer, gets up and says, ‘I got to go watch film’, and he leaves the office. So, it’s me at 10:15 in the morning with a bottle of bourbon in his office with a notepad and a dossier on me. That was how we met.” In the moment, Aird probably wondered what in the world just happened? Who is this guy? Now? Yep, sounds about right.
Three Tight Ends standing out early for Indiana University Football Survey the current IU football roster and you’ll find all six tight ends have something in common. They’re all freshmen. “That room is really young,” coach Curt Cignetti said at Big Ten media day. “Really young.” Yes, some are redshirt freshmen, or second-years if you prefer in this new age of five-year eligibility. But when it comes to meaningful experience, none of the six have much of it. That includes the spring, when injuries sidelined multiple players in the tight end room. That’s about to change of course, and Cignetti named the three who have separated themselves over the course of the spring and summer. “(Brock) Schott has had good moments, as has (Trevor) Gibbs,” Cignetti said. “From a blocking standpoint and a receiving standpoint, just trying to get them better because they are young, but we are going to be counting on (Andrew) Barker, Schott and Gibbs, for sure, then we will figure out that fourth one.”
All of Barker, Schott and Gibbs are from northern Indiana — Kokomo, Fort Wayne and Crown Point, respectively. Schott (6-foo-3, 241 pounds) played in two games last year at Miami (Florida) and caught two passes for 24 yards. Barker (6-foot-4, 250 pounds) played in one game for IU last season against Kennesaw State. And Gibbs (6-foot-2 and 241 pounds) arrived on campus in January and required foot surgery, forcing him to miss spring practice. Schott and Barker are the only two of the six who have played in a college game. And Schott is the only one who has caught a pass. Blake Thiry (6-foot-4, 236 pounds) was with IU last year but didn’t see the field as he added weight and learned to play on the line.
A fourth tight end from Indiana, Parker Elmore (6-foot-4, 239 pounds) from Columbus has promise but is very young and missed his sophomore and junior high school seasons due to an injury and an eligibility issue. And P.J. MacFarlane (6-foot-5, 205 pounds) just arrived on campus this summer. It’s a very different scenario from last season when the Hoosiers could put three experienced seniors on the field in Riley Nowakowski, Holden Staes and James Bomba. And the year before that it was Zach Horton. Those veteran players provided a foundation from which Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan could build the offense. They’ll have no such luxury this season.
Indianapolis Colts End Preseason Opener with a 13-13 Tie on the Road Against the New England Patriots The Indianapolis Colts ended the first of three preseason games with a 13-13 tie on the road against the New England Patriots. Quarterback Anthony Richardson started the first half, with second-year quarterback Riley Leonard taking over after halftime. Richardson finished 11-of-14 for 145 passing yards, 53 rushing yards with a rushing touchdown, but he also fumbled and threw an interception. With 28 seconds left before halftime and the Colts backed up at their own 8-yard line, Richardson led a quick drive to the edge of field-goal range, going 4-of-5 for 49 passing yards. Kicker Blake Grupe then missed a 61-yard attempt on the final play of the half. Despite three first-half turnovers, including two in the red zone, the Colts trailed just 10-7 at the break. In the second half, Leonard finished 10-of-21 for 89 passing yards along with an interception.
Colts’ fourth-year tight end Will Mallory played a solid game offensively. Mallory led Indy’s offense with six catches for 80 receiving yards. Colts’ rookie and former Center Grove High School star Caden Curry recorded a sack along with six tackles and two tackles for loss on the night. In total, the Colts recorded four turnovers on the day. In the red zone, Indianapolis left some opportunities on the table. The Colts moved the ball well and crossed midfield several times, but they finished just 1-for-3 in the red zone. Indy’s rushing defense was stout. The Colts’ defense allowed just 2.6 yards per carry and allowed 83 rushing yards on the evening. Offensively, Indianapolis rushed for a combined 133 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry as a team. The Colts’ next preseason game is against the Atlanta Falcons on August 22 at 1 p.m. inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Riley Leonard will start in the first half of the next game, and Richardson will take over in the second half. Quarterback Daniel Jones will not play any snaps during the preseason.
Stephanie White unloads on ‘divisive’ online narrative surrounding her team Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White went off in front of the media over online comments calling for her firing and claims that she isn’t standing up for her players. “This isn’t necessarily for those people that are in this room; this is more for an online community that’s trying to create narratives that simply don’t exist,” White said. “Trying to create a fabrication or distortion of who I am, of what I’m about. Our players’ success, our players’ health and wellness, our players’ safety is always a top priority for me. One of the things I pride myself on is my relationship with players. For those that have anything to say about our play in the last game, I didn’t see the play in real time. I went to a press conference. I thought the play got called right. Thankfully, Sophie’s okay. Was it egregious? Absolutely. When you have a chance to watch that over and over on replay, you could see that. I didn’t have that in real time. I take personally any suggestions that I don’t always have my players’ backs one hundred percent. I ride with them ten toes down all the time. All the time. They know that. It’s a shame that we can’t have an opportunity to talk about what great basketball they are playing, because they are [expletive] playing. The reality is, with me, I will always lead with love, I will always lead with grace, I will always lead with humility. And I will always lead with integrity. Doesn’t mean I’ll always get it right; I’m also human. The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win. It won’t win. We are united, we are connected. We will not be divided. Every day, these women put their [expletive] on the line. Everyday. When they go low, we go high; love will win. Grace will win. Humility will win, and kindness will win. I stand by them; I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to [expletive].”
The latest distraction came three days ago during the Fever’s game against the Chicago Sky, when Chicago’s Dijonai Carrington was assessed a flagrant 2, an automatic ejection, after her left arm hit Sophie Cunningham’s face in transition. After her ejection, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on Threads and tagged the Fever’s main account before the final buzzer. Fast forward to before Tuesday’s matchup with the Liberty, Coach White addressed the recent controversial online rhetoric surrounding the team, specifically her recent decisions as head coach. This is just the latest of controversies surrounding Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and the rest of the team.
“I think our group does a really good job of responding,” White said during Monday’s practice. “I think our group does a really good job of pouring into one another, of keeping the main thing the main thing, of understanding that there are a lot of folks out there who want to divide us. That there are a lot of folks out there who want to create more challenges for us. In our locker room we do a really good job of keeping that outside the locker room and pulling for one another. You guys see it, the vibes are always pretty good in here. I’m proud of them for that and I think outside of even just the sport and outside of the job it serves great life lessons for us as well.”
Indiana Pacers to Play the Minnesota Timberwolves at Tyrese Haliburton’s Alma Mater Iowa State in the Preseason The last time Tyrese Haliburton played a game at Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum he fractured his left wrist and missed the rest of his sophomore season. He’s been back plenty of times since — including to propose to his wife, Jade — but he’ll get to play there again in the Pacers’ first preseason game. The Pacers announced Tuesday that they will play the Timberwolves at the arena in Ames, Iowa on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. ET. Haliburton told media just before the announcement that it was happening and that he was thrilled for the opportunity to return to his college town. “It’s special for me,” Haliburton said. “… My last time playing at Hilton wasn’t very memorable for me. It’s special that I’m able to go back there for a preseason game. I’m very appreciative to our organization for making that happen. The Timberwolves, their G League affiliate’s in Iowa as well. It all came together really well.”
That news was part of the slow dribble of schedule news that came out on Wednesday with the whole NBA schedule set to be released on Thursday. The Pacers also learned the specifics of their NBA Cup schedule, which includes home games against the Knicks and 76ers and road games against the Heat and Cavaliers. They also learned that they will have a nationally televised President’s Day game on Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. on the road against the Golden State Warriors on Peacock and the NBC Sports Network.